The 2018 Boston Marathon will, like the 1976 Boston Marathon, go down as a historical event. The wind, the rain, the sleet, the constant pounding made for one hellacious marathon. But, in discussions with coaches, athletes and observers, I see five important lessons to learn from this years' Boston marathon.

1. THE MORE YOU RACE BOSTON, THE MORE YOU LEARN ABOUT THE COURSE.

Desi Linden has run the Boston marathon six times as of April 16, 2018. That experience, that knowledge of how ones' body responds to the course, the downhills, the uphills and the competition. Desi Linden has seen everthing on the Boston course. Over the weekend, Desi noted, " I love the Boston marathon. It is THE marathon. I love the course. The Boston marathon is why I am still racing today." Linden became a student of the Boston marathon. She knew about the races that preceded her. She had lost by two seconds in 2011. Desi Linden knew, in her DNA what writer John Parker called the " Miles of Trial and the Trials of Miles."

This is update 16 for the USA-Canada reports for 2017-18. Our Catalan friend, Carles Baronet, compiles and edits these amazing reports each week. Carles has done this for @runblogrun for several years, and we love them. If you have any suggestions, please email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

No one deserved to be the first American woman to win Boston since another Michigander Lisa Larsen Weidenbach in 1985 than Desiree Linden. She has placed well here in each of her races including her second place finish by two seconds in 2011. Desi's first trip here in 2007 had conditions nearly as bad as today. But today's weather of near freezing temperatures, strong headwinds and periods of torrential rain and even hail led every athlete on the course to the ultimate test.

I have been attending this marathon for forty years and today's weather was absolutely the worst ever imagined. The professional women started off at 9:32am and the first mile was passed in 6:24. A huge pack held together for many miles as no one was particularly keen on taking the lead although Bezunesh Deba and Mamitu Daska took the lead several times then came back to the pack.

Des Linden is a unique athletic archetype in our American running culture. Well liked, with a self-deprecating sense of humor, keen observation skills and a work ethic surpassed by only Joan Benoit Samuelson in her heyday, Linden took all of those skills and built a win today in Boston yesterday. Her win was the result of a combination of her skills and her desire.

A digression.

The 1968 Olympic decathlon champ, Bill Toomey, gave me the following theory. The one who wins an athletic competition is the one who covets the event the most. In 1968, Toomey practiced the high jump in the rain in Santa Barbara, telling himself that it might rain in Mexico City. Sure enough, it did. His vault poles were lost in transist, but that was another story.

Des Linden has run five Boston marathons. That experience helped her in her sixth Boston marathon. She had ground out some serious miles and workouts. She had run some cold, long runs in Michigan, and she probably had some runs that beat her utp more than Boston in 2018. Perhaps most of all, Linden coveted this race—his crazy race from Hopkinton to Boston—more than anyone else in the elite field.

David Hunter gets that across as he builds the argument that Linden put all of her talents together to win the 2018 Boston Marathon. When later asked if his athlete could have won Boston if it had been better conditions, Coach Kevin Hanson, the zen master of coaching, noted, “But the conditions were not better.” Enough said.

There have been many great events this weekend but it is hard to think of a more exciting competition than the Women's Pole vault. Christian Coleman had to "work" for just over 6 seconds to win his 60m gold medal. Sandi Morris was out there for 3 hours to win hers.

Two streaks came to an end. Katerina Stefanidi, the reigning World outdoor and Olympic champion, was finally beaten after a winning streak of 19 competitions. Sandi Morris broke a less welcome streak - silver at the Worlds Championships (indoor and outdoor) and the Olympics.

Pole vault involves running with a pole and vaulting over a high bar. It involves a lot more than that! An elite competition is often two competitions in one, with the event over for some athletes before others have started. When Stefanidi entered the competition at 4.70, others had been jumping for an hour and a quarter. When Stefanidi cleared 4.70 and moved on to 4.75, only six competitors of the original 12 were still standing - or still vaulting.

What's the best way to fuel for the Boston Marathon? Should I eat a high fat diet to train my body to burn more fat and less glucose? What percent of calories should come from carbohydrate? protein? fat?

When it comes to eating for endurance, today's runners are confronted with two opposing views:

• Eat a traditional carbohydrate-based sports diet, or

• Eat a fat-based diet that severely limits carbohydrate intake.

What should an eager marathoner, Ironman triathlete, or ultra-runner eat to perform better? Here's what you want to know about eating for endurance, based on the Joint Position Statement on Nutrition for Athletic Performance from the American College of Sports Medicine, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, and Dietitians of Canada.

1. Eat enough calories.

Most runners need ~21 calories per pound (45 cal/kg) of lean body mass (LBM). That means, if you weigh 150 pounds and have 10% body fat, your LBM is 135 pounds, your estimated energy needs are 2,800 calories a day. That said, energy needs vary from person to person, depending on how fidgety you are, how much you sit in front of a computer, how much muscle you have, etc.. Hence, your body is actually your best calorie counter—more accurate than any formula or app!

Keith Brantly was one of our sports most iconic athletes in North America. He battled hard, and long in our sport, and finished 4th twice in the 1988 and 1992 Olympic Trials marathons. He finally made the team in 1996 Olympic Trials marathon. His piece below is a thoughtful remembrance of the man who had much influence in over Brantly's career.

If there was an American runner truly devoted to the training theories and encouragement from the late Dr. David Martin, then Keith Brantly definitely fits the bill.

One of the nation's top runners during a 20 year span over more than 2 decades, the 1996 U.S. Olympic marathoner didn't just consider Dr. Martin a consultant, but as something more.

Here are Brantley's reminiscences of his most valued mentor.

"This is a snapshot of a small part of Dr. David Martin's life and our time together. I use the terms "snapshot" and "small part" because my time with Dr. Dave was just a moment in time for him. I'm very certain and I recognize the stories of several hundred other athletes, coaches, colleagues and friends who interacted with Dr. Dave could fill a several-thousand-page journal. I only believe my story is unique because he was my coach, and he always made me feel that, to him, I was the most important person on earth.

The eighteen medal haul of Team USATF was pretty impressive. Truth is, we probably missed a couple of medals with the plethora of DQs, but I’m not going to get grumpy. Some fine athletes and some fine performances. Thanks to Ashley Mitchel and Josh Gurnick of USATF,, who toiled each session to provide us the support we needed to cover the four days of global track & field.

BIRMINGHAM, England - A six-medal afternoon Sunday at the 2018 IAAF World Indoor Championships at Arena Birmingham gave USATF one of its most successful performances at World Indoors.

A championship-record performance by the women's 4x400m relay team of Quanera Hayes, Georganne Moline, Shakima Wimbley and Courtney Okolo was complemented by silvers from Ajee Wilson, Jarret Eaton, Sam Kendricks and the men's 4x400m relay team.

By the end of the day, Team USATF had amassed 18 total medals for the 2018 World Indoor Championships, equaling its third-best performance ever at World Indoors. Along the way, American athletes racked up four championship records, an American record, and 10 performances that were the best ever by Americans at World Indoors.

In team competition, Team USATF's 18 medals led Great Britain's seven, with six U.S. gold medals to Ethiopia's four. Team USATF tallied 208 points on the placing table, followed by Great Britain with 67 and Ethiopia with 57.

NAPA, Calif. — March 4, 2018 — The 40th anniversary of the Kaiser Permanente Napa Valley Marathon presented perfect conditions for racing 26.2 miles through California’s picturesque Napa Valley. Cool temperatures at the start in the mid-30s with little wind greeted over 2,100 entrants eager for fast times. Andrew Bauer, 34, of Martinez, Calif. ran way with the men’s overall victory while Casey Crosson, 19, of Los Angeles, Calif. earned the women’s title. Bauer crossed the finish line at Vintage High School in Napa with a time of 2 hours, 24 minutes, and 4 seconds. Crosson secured her win in 2:50:49.

Both winners earned titles as 2018 Road Runners Club of America National Marathon Champions and were awarded their “weight-in-wine” donated by NakedWines.com. Nineteen-year-old Crosson will receive her wine when she reaches age 21.

RunBlogRun opines: Cregg Weinmann, Footwear and Apparel Review editor for the RunningNetwork ran in this embargoed shoe (until 24 January 2018) from Nike. We thought that you would like to see the review, so we will post across our sites today. The shoe will be available on February 22, 2018 on a global basis. We saw the shoe in August 2018 at a special event, but had to keep our thoughts to ourselves until the launch. So, here is Cregg's thoughts on running in the shoe and his comments on the new Nike technology. You can see reviews daily at www.runningproductreviews.com.

Review:

The Epic React Flyknit is Nike's latest running shoe, and may point to a new range of performance shoes. Replacing the Lunar Epic Flyknit, the Epic React Flyknit advances overall performance with a focus on a new midsole technology. The upper is a monosock design, a new version of Flyknit which is quite thin with no additional ankle collar padding, welded overlays reinforce the eye stay, and a TPU heel counter adds a little structure. The stretch of the Flyknit, as well as the laces, do an excellent job of securing the foot, with no pressure, slippage, or discomfort. The React midsole material is a proprietary foam developed specifically by Nike, dialed in after hundreds of chemical combinations. The ride has a resilient bounce to it, is durable, as well as protective. The outersole features crystal rubber at heel and toe, with the rest a tough skinned foam. The weight of the shoe is quite light, noticeably lighter than the Lunarlon foam that it replaces. While the price tag has placed the shoe in the premium range, the performance matches it, and the promise of more to come may well point to something for everybody.